# How the waitlist works

> How people join your waitlist through a form, how you invite them to book an appointment, and when entries are deleted automatically.

Source: https://help.meetone.io/en/organizations-admins/how-the-waitlist-works
Last updated: 2026-10-23

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The waitlist collects requests from people who are waiting for a place with you, through a form instead of by email or phone. As soon as you have appointments free again, you invite people from the list, and they book a suitable appointment themselves.

> **Note**
>
> The waitlist is not the same as the [digital waiting room](https://help.meetone.io/en/professionals/use-digital-waiting-room), where participants wait online without an appointment until someone brings them in, nor the same as [appointment requests](https://help.meetone.io/en/professionals/manage-appointment-requests), where participants suggest the times they would like.

## Prerequisites

- The waitlist is enabled for your account. You then see **Waitlist** in your organization's sidebar.
- Only organization owners who work in the organization as a practitioner or medical assistant can manage the waitlist. Other members don't see it.
- For invited people to book, your organization needs appointment types and availability that can be booked online. See [Configure appointment types (availability types)](https://help.meetone.io/en/organizations-admins/configure-appointment-types) and [Set up your availability in the planner](https://help.meetone.io/en/professionals/set-up-availability-planner).

## From the form to a booked appointment

1. **Sign-up.** People fill in your waitlist form, through the link, embedded in your website or through the website widget. They enter their contact details and their request, and answer your own questions.
2. **Consent.** Before they send the form, they agree that your organization stores and processes their details, including information about their health, to manage the waitlist and to contact them about an appointment. The consent text is fixed and names your organization.
3. **Email confirmation.** People receive an email with a confirmation link that is valid for 7 days. The entry only appears on your waitlist once they have confirmed. You don't see unconfirmed entries.
4. **Notification.** A combined email tells you about new entries. It only gives their number, no personal data.
5. **Invitation.** When a place becomes free, you invite one or several people to book an appointment. Each of them receives an email with a link to pick a free appointment themselves.
6. **Booking.** Once the person books through the link, the appointment is confirmed immediately and the entry is **Booked**.

An entry is not a MeetOne account. The appointment is booked for the name and email address the person entered in the form.

## Statuses

| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| **Waiting** | On the list, waiting for an invitation. |
| **Invited** | Has been invited to book an appointment but hasn't booked yet. If the invitation becomes unusable, for example because its appointment type was deleted, the entry goes back to **Waiting**. |
| **Booked** | Has booked an appointment through the invitation. |
| **Archived** | No longer on the list: archived by you, or because the person didn't answer the "Are you still interested?" email. Deleted 30 days later. |

Waiting and invited entries count as **Open**, and the list shows only those until you change the status filter.

## How long entries are kept

- **Unconfirmed entries** are deleted 7 days after the form was sent.
- **Waiting and invited entries** get an email every 6 months asking whether the person is still interested, the first one 6 months after they confirmed their email address. The email goes out in your name.
- **Without an answer within 30 days**, the entry is archived and any open invitation stops working.
- **Archived entries** are deleted together with their answers 30 days after they were archived, whether you archived them or the "Are you still interested?" email went unanswered. If the person answers through the link in that email during that time, they are back to **Waiting**. An entry you archived yourself cannot be brought back by anyone.
- **Anyone who wants to leave the waitlist** can do so with the link in every waitlist email. Their entry and all their details are then deleted immediately.
- **Booked entries** are not deleted automatically. Delete them once you no longer need them.

You can also delete any entry yourself at any time. The automatic deletions run once a day, so an entry may still be visible for up to a day after a deadline has passed.

## When the waitlist is switched off

If the waitlist is switched off for your organization, the form stops accepting entries and the waitlist disappears from your sidebar. MeetOne then sends no more "Are you still interested?" emails in your name: waiting and invited entries are archived when their next one would be due, and deleted 30 days later. The link for leaving the waitlist keeps working.

## Read more

- [Set up the waitlist](https://help.meetone.io/en/organizations-admins/set-up-waitlist)
- [Manage the waitlist and invite people](https://help.meetone.io/en/professionals/manage-waitlist)
- [Waitlist emails](https://help.meetone.io/en/organizations-admins/waitlist-emails)
- [Join a waitlist](https://help.meetone.io/en/participants/join-waitlist) – the process from the participant's side
- [Waitlist API](https://help.meetone.io/developers/waitlist-api/overview) – bring the waitlist into your own system (developer documentation)

Still have questions? Contact us at [support@meetone.io](mailto:support@meetone.io).